The Stats Behind Panathinaikos’ Great Start
A young, determined and rampant Panathinaikos team under new manager Giorgos Donis has been ‘the talk of the town’ following an outstanding start to the Greek Super League season. The Greens have won all 4 of their opening games and have forged an identity that makes long-suffering fans proud.
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Here is the lowdown behind this start, with the statistics to back it up.
Dominant Attacking Force
This statistic perhaps best sums up the start Panathinaikos have enjoyed under Donis. The team has scored an impressive 10 goals in 4 games, playing Xanthi, Lamia, Larissa and Levadiakos off the park in the process. Under Marinos Ouzounidis, a more experienced team only mustered 11 goals in the opening half of the season! That is 11 goals in the first 15 games. Granted the Greens have not yet played any rival or title contender, but it is scary to think how many goals Donis’ young team will have at the halfway point of the season.
After 4 games, the Trifylli possess the best attack in the League and remain unbeaten (as do PAOK and Olympiakos). The most impressive aspect of the 10 goals to date is the fact that there is no over-reliance on any single player to score. Fullback Mattias Johansson is the leading scorer with 3 goals to his name. Last season he was a bit-part player and struggled to leave an impression. Who would have known he had goals in his game, and good ones too! The transformation of this player has been fascinating.
Giannis Bouzoukis has 2 goals to his name, while Tasos Chatzigiovannis, Dimitris Emmanouilidis, Dimitris Kourbelis, Ilias Chatzitheodoridis and Argiris Kampetsis have all scored once. This bodes well moving forward as key attacking players such as Anthony Mounier, Federico Macheda and Nikos Vergos are yet to regularly feature.
Even though it is still early days, the team is well and truly on track to smash last season’s record of a poor 30 goals in 30 games (the current average is 2.5 goals per game).
Youngsters Take Their Game to a New Level
Donis’ young troops have also put to bed the common idea that Greek youth do not have what it takes to cut it at the top level. In hindsight, the transfer ban was the best thing that has happened to the club for a long time. The proof is in the pudding once again in this case.
The average age of the team has been brought right down. Against Lamia, the average age of the team that finished the match amongst the attackers was 19.5 years old! These players were Bouzoukis, Chatzigiovannis, Emmanouilidis and Kampetsis. It is no coincidence that these four are among those that have impressed the most. Chatzigiovannis was hit and miss last season and questions had arisen as to whether or not he was the real deal. This season as a more senior figure (43 career appearances), his creativity has been at the forefront of this new-look team. Donis has given him the freedom to play his natural game and it undoubtedly helps playing with other familiar faces as the chemistry is there.
In the match against Levadiakos, the average age of the front four was 20.25, with Chatzitheodoridis (21), Chatzigiovannis (21), Bouzoukis (20) and Kampetsis (19). It is no coincidence that Chatzigiovannis and Kampetsis combined beautifully for the first goal.
Best Start to a Season Since the 2009-10 Double
In a game that is all about the results, Panathinaikos has excelled there too. The perfect 4/4 start to the season has been the best since the 2009-10 season. Ironically, that was the last time the Greens won the League-Cup double. Naturally the expectations are lower for this season but if the team continues on its current trajectory, the sky is the limit.
Matchday 7 was the first time Panathinaikos dropped points in that season in a 2-2 draw at Kavala. Prior to that, the team had beaten Ergotelis, Xanthi, Panthrakikos, Aris, AEK and Larissa. To match this start in season 2018-19, wins in the next 2 games would be required (PAS Giannina at home and Asteras Tripolis away are the next two games).
On top of this, it is the first time since the 2011-12 season where the Greens have scored 3 or more goals in a game for three successive weeks. Back then it was four in a row against Xanthi (2-3), Erotelis (4-0), PAOK (1-3) and AEK (3-2).
Fans Return to Support the Team
The wins, the playing identity, the passion and the goals have all prompted the fans to return to the stadium and support their team. Vangelis Oikonomou said it in pre season that the onus is on the team to give the fans a reason to attend games, and they have done that in style.
The fans to their credit have responded. The official crowd figure in the game against Levadiakos at OAKA was 12,871. In the last two seasons, the highest home crowd is 13,715 in the Derby of Eternal Enemies against Olympiakos. The crowd last weekend has been the second largest in the last two seasons and the largest since last season’s derby. The fact that crowds of just over 8,000 make it into the top 5 for the last two seasons says it all as for how poor crowds have been. Last weekend’s crowd of 12,871 was 4,137 more than last season’s home derby against AEK.
However, there are now no excuses as the fans have every reason to attend and playing at OAKA enables Panathinaikos to get much bigger crowds - over 20,000 are tipped to attend this weekend against PAS Giannina. Should things continue, one can only imagine the sort of crowd present for the next derby against Olympiakos.
by Nick Tsambouniaris
Image Source: to10.gr
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